Christmas is about giving, among other things, and let me tell you, I totally get the whole "joy of giving" thing. I love to pick presents for people I know and love. I even vaguely like giving gifts to people I don't actually care about.
My favorite person to buy for is my sister and I give her props for the best gift I received this year: a garden gnome. Gifts like that remind me Christmas can be untainted by commercialism. Gifts don't have to be valuable to be personal and yet they don't have to be handmade to avoid the ominous specter of commercialism. While it is important to exchange gifts of comparable value with peers, the absolute monetary value of gift giving is fairly arbitrary. My sister and I have yet to spend twenty dollars on a gift for one another.
I also love receiving gifts, but not without reservations. I hate improperly chosen gifts ("white elephants") and I hate gift cards. Oh, how I hate gift cards. Gift cards manage to be both impersonal and impractical. Surely nobody really believes that a gift card to Starbucks is more personal than handing me cash? At least cash doesn't take up extra space in my wallet. Using gift cards is a chore, even in the lucky circumstance that I actually shop at the specified retailer.
As the joy of giving is double that of receiving, the horror of poor gift giving is double that of receiving bad gifts, so I hate being expected to choose something personal when I don't know my audience. In fact, the bane of my Christmas existence is the gift exchange for our large, extended family in Louisiana. In it I usually give terrible gifts and receive terrible gifts. It's not like we don't love each other, I just happen to live far away and see them infrequently. Additionally, there are massive age barriers to contend with. My cousins range from 13 to 31 and many of my aunts and uncles don't have children my age. The task is always a worthy challenge, though. I'm starting to think of finding appropriate, interesting semi-specific gifts as quite the art form.
One way or another, I hope you will reflect on the gifts you have given and received this Christmas season. Periodically we all forget to fully embrace the joy of giving and receiving, especially when we neglect to immerse ourselves in holiday movies.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Mammoth
This weekend we went up to Mammoth. We came in with a storm forecast and hopes for some fresh powder.
Our first day on the slopes we witnessed as Mammoth Mountain was first wreathed and then consumed by a snow storm. You can see mom on the right and a rainbow (snowbow?) over the Mammoth lakes.
The second day Bri and I braved a full blown blizzard. I noticed during this trip that it is much easier to capture genuine smiles when people are genuinely having the time of their lives.
The white out conditions meant we could hardly see the snow we were skiing on and the crest winds nearly blew us over, but the conditions also meant some fantastic powder.
The next day we made our way home through the high desert, passing storm after storm.
Our first day on the slopes we witnessed as Mammoth Mountain was first wreathed and then consumed by a snow storm. You can see mom on the right and a rainbow (snowbow?) over the Mammoth lakes.
The second day Bri and I braved a full blown blizzard. I noticed during this trip that it is much easier to capture genuine smiles when people are genuinely having the time of their lives.
The white out conditions meant we could hardly see the snow we were skiing on and the crest winds nearly blew us over, but the conditions also meant some fantastic powder.
The next day we made our way home through the high desert, passing storm after storm.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Ten Favorite Movies
These are my favorite movies, not the movies I deem to be "the greatest". That considered, the distinction is fairly trivial. They are ordered from top to bottom, first to tenth. On this list two are cliches of any favorite movie list, three more are undisputed classics and five were made since the millennium. Time will tell which of those will achieve immortality and to what degree the classics will endure, but before that happens, I will tell you why these movies are patently awesome.
There Will Be Blood- At the risk of jumping the gun, seeing how this movie came out less than a year ago, I think that this is the single greatest movie of the decade. Chugging, dark and horrifyingly vivid, this movie is a study of a man driven, like Citizen Kane before it.The film follows Daniel Plainview's ruthless rise to wealth as an oil baron in the California oil fields. It is clear that he will stop at nothing to fulfill his ambition and yet, the most terrifying moments of the movie are the glimmers of humanity, hastily concealed, that his character betrays. That we all have a little Daniel Plainview in us becomes simultaneously disturbing and perversely satisfying.
Star Wars IV, V, VI- You may quip about elements of the acting or script, but these three movies are ultimately unassailable for their wild imagination, excellent sequences, pacing, story, characters and... Harrison Ford.
Donnie Darko- If you cease trying to make sense of the logical paradoxes that structure the movie's plot, this movie is even better than the generally excellent reviews it received might suggest. Donnie Darko is a highschooler with psychological issues who is saved from a falling airplane engine by a talking bunny named Frank. The movie continues through October until the day Frank has told Donnie the world will end. The social commentary is spot on, the mood is pitch-perfect and the mind-fuck coefficient is outrageous, but more than anything this is a movie that excels at capturing moments subtle and vastly profound. Even without the backbone of a cohesive thesis, this stands comfortably between cinema classics.
Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail- Occasionally I see glimpses of insight in the collection of skits that compose King Arthur's absurd travels, but mostly what I see is pure, brilliant humor that doesn't need meaning to keep me laughing like a maniac the whole way through.
Superbad- I love high school movies and I love Rogen/Apatow, so it should be no surprise that Superbad ranks highly here. While Superbad is savagely funny and intensely profane, it is no American Pie. Its jokes carry the sting of truth and the movie packs the emotional weight that characterizes the best of high school movies. The only other that competes on these terms is Ferris Buehler.
The Seventh Seal- I first heard of this reading Ingmar Bergman's obituary last summer. It follows a knight returning from the crusades to his home in Sweden amidst the height of the Black Plague. Along the way home he plays chess against Death for his life. Like Hamlet before it, it's a meditation on mortality. It also shares with Hamlet its surreal horror and leavening humor. If you want a trippier Bergman that's on the same echelon, watch Wild Strawberries, but if you want your movie fun as well as deep, go no further.
The Bourne Identity- This is the finest action movie I have ever seen. Driven by a magnetic plot and shot with hand-held cameras, this movie is pure visceral thrill. I particularly love the scene where Bourne hunts down the sniper outside the British expat's house.
Pulp Fiction- This is Quentin Tarantino in all of his fucked up glory. It's fun. It's sick. It's a great ride. I don't know that Dick Dale or gratuitous violence were ever so cool as in this film.
The Searchers- This is a John Ford western starring John Wayne. It's a brilliant drama piece set against the wide open west, swept along by the epic travels made in search of John Wayne's abducted niece.
28 Days Later- This is an incredible apocalyptic zombie movie. For those of you apprehensive of either designation, I assure you that it has crossover appeal. You'll laugh, cry, scream and ponder deep philosophical questions. I don't know what it is with British zombie flicks this decade, but they're on fire over there.
There Will Be Blood- At the risk of jumping the gun, seeing how this movie came out less than a year ago, I think that this is the single greatest movie of the decade. Chugging, dark and horrifyingly vivid, this movie is a study of a man driven, like Citizen Kane before it.The film follows Daniel Plainview's ruthless rise to wealth as an oil baron in the California oil fields. It is clear that he will stop at nothing to fulfill his ambition and yet, the most terrifying moments of the movie are the glimmers of humanity, hastily concealed, that his character betrays. That we all have a little Daniel Plainview in us becomes simultaneously disturbing and perversely satisfying.
Star Wars IV, V, VI- You may quip about elements of the acting or script, but these three movies are ultimately unassailable for their wild imagination, excellent sequences, pacing, story, characters and... Harrison Ford.
Donnie Darko- If you cease trying to make sense of the logical paradoxes that structure the movie's plot, this movie is even better than the generally excellent reviews it received might suggest. Donnie Darko is a highschooler with psychological issues who is saved from a falling airplane engine by a talking bunny named Frank. The movie continues through October until the day Frank has told Donnie the world will end. The social commentary is spot on, the mood is pitch-perfect and the mind-fuck coefficient is outrageous, but more than anything this is a movie that excels at capturing moments subtle and vastly profound. Even without the backbone of a cohesive thesis, this stands comfortably between cinema classics.
Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail- Occasionally I see glimpses of insight in the collection of skits that compose King Arthur's absurd travels, but mostly what I see is pure, brilliant humor that doesn't need meaning to keep me laughing like a maniac the whole way through.
Superbad- I love high school movies and I love Rogen/Apatow, so it should be no surprise that Superbad ranks highly here. While Superbad is savagely funny and intensely profane, it is no American Pie. Its jokes carry the sting of truth and the movie packs the emotional weight that characterizes the best of high school movies. The only other that competes on these terms is Ferris Buehler.
The Seventh Seal- I first heard of this reading Ingmar Bergman's obituary last summer. It follows a knight returning from the crusades to his home in Sweden amidst the height of the Black Plague. Along the way home he plays chess against Death for his life. Like Hamlet before it, it's a meditation on mortality. It also shares with Hamlet its surreal horror and leavening humor. If you want a trippier Bergman that's on the same echelon, watch Wild Strawberries, but if you want your movie fun as well as deep, go no further.
The Bourne Identity- This is the finest action movie I have ever seen. Driven by a magnetic plot and shot with hand-held cameras, this movie is pure visceral thrill. I particularly love the scene where Bourne hunts down the sniper outside the British expat's house.
Pulp Fiction- This is Quentin Tarantino in all of his fucked up glory. It's fun. It's sick. It's a great ride. I don't know that Dick Dale or gratuitous violence were ever so cool as in this film.
The Searchers- This is a John Ford western starring John Wayne. It's a brilliant drama piece set against the wide open west, swept along by the epic travels made in search of John Wayne's abducted niece.
28 Days Later- This is an incredible apocalyptic zombie movie. For those of you apprehensive of either designation, I assure you that it has crossover appeal. You'll laugh, cry, scream and ponder deep philosophical questions. I don't know what it is with British zombie flicks this decade, but they're on fire over there.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Max's Christmas Punch
It's that time of year and this is a girl drink we can all rally behind. I came upon this when Jill told me to have a Cran and Vodka and we didn't have any Vodka. I debuted it at my annual Christmakah party last night.
1 shot Rum (any kind)
2 shots Cranberry Juice
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
I always thought Angostura smelled like Christmas, it just took the right setting to bring the Christmas cheer.
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